Ecomorphological radiation of Himalayan Northeastern Indian Steninae beetles (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae)

这个项目，这是在一个国际德国-印度合作的框架内研究Steninae（鞘翅目，隐翅虫科）在印度东北部（阿鲁纳恰尔邦）的两个海拔梯度的生物多样性，将调查方面的生态形态辐射的这个巨大的多样化分支的树甲虫。包括超过3000个描述的物种，属Stenus目前形成了地球上物种最多的动物属。成虫是以视觉为导向的上位性捕食跳虫和其他小型节肢动物。最有趣的自形性定义属Stenus是一个杆状的可折叠的细长阴唇，其尖端的“paraglossae”被修改为粘性垫。这种捕获猎物的装置可以像猫一样向潜在的猎物伸出。在Dianous属中，可能形成Stenus内的一个亚属，阴唇不细长，不具有可折叠的粘性猎物捕获装置。这一双边研究项目的主要目标涉及（1）多样性、分布和生态位模式（2）对两个海拔梯度沿着（生境、海拔、温度）的口器、跗附着系统的功能和性能以及视觉系统和触角系统之间潜在的感觉平衡进行了形态学和实验分析;（3）对相关形态、行为和生态特征及其进化辐射的宏观进化下游分析;（4）群落水平上潜在的组装规则（例如由于环境过滤或种间竞争）。这些组装规则将被确定的基础上的生态形态特征的分布和群落成员之间的系统发育关系相比，随机社区的基础上空模型。该项目包括在印度阿鲁纳恰尔邦停留四个月，在两个喜马拉雅山麓山脉的海拔梯度上标准化收集甲虫，并在拉吉夫·甘地大学的实验室中对它们的捕食和跗骨附着性能进行实验调查。基于分子生物学，这些数据将与形态测量相关，以确定形态，性能和生态之间的因果关系。该项目的数据矩阵与提议者从泰国两个不同山区产生的生态形态学数据以及中欧动物群的数据矩阵的连接将允许基于以下假设得出一般化的结论：生态位发散可能在独立定居（分离）的动物地理区域中收敛地重复，并导致类似的生态形态和群落组合。这将支持这一假设，即可以理解的进化Steninae的网状适应和迭代会聚辐射的角度。

This project, which lies within the framework of an international German-Indian Collaboration studying the biodiversity of Steninae (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) across two elevational gradients in Northeast India (Arunachal Pradesh), will investigate aspects of the ecomorphological radiation of this megadiverse clade of rove beetles. Comprising more than 3000 described species, the genus Stenus currently forms the most speciose animal genus on earth. The adults are epigeic, optically oriented predators of springtails and other small arthropods. The most intriguing autapomorphy defining the genus Stenus is a rod-like protrudable elongated labium, with the “paraglossae” at its tip being modified into adhesive pads. This prey-capture apparatus can be protruded towards potential prey in a catapult-like fashion. In the genus Dianous, probably forming a subgenus within Stenus, the labium is not elongated and does not possess a protrudable adhesive prey-capture apparatus. Major objectives to be addressed in this bilateral research project relate to (1) diversity, distributional and niche patterns (habitat, elevation, temperature) along two elevational gradients, (2) morphological and experimental analyses of the function and performance of the mouthparts, the tarsal attachment systems and the potential sensory trade-off between the visual and antennal systems, (3) phylogeny-informed macroevolutionary downstream analyses of relevant morphological, behavioural and ecological traits and their evolutionary radiation and (4) potential assembly rules (e.g. because of environmental filtering or interspecific competition) at the community level. These assembly rules will be determined on the basis of the distribution of ecomorphological traits and the phylogenetic relationships among community members in comparison with random communities based on null models. The project involves a four-month stay in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh for the standardized collection of beetles across elevational gradients of two Himalayan foothill mountain ranges and the experimental investigation of both their predatory and tarsal attachment performance in the laboratory at Rajiv Gandhi University. Based on a molecular phylogeny, these data will then be correlated with morphometric measurements to determine the causal relationship between morphology, performance, and ecology. Concatenation of the data matrices of this project with the ecomorphological data generated by the proposer from two distinct mountain regions in Thailand plus that of Central European fauna will allow generalized conclusions to be drawn on the assumption that niche divergence might have been convergently repeated in independently settled (disjunct) zoogeographic regions and resulted in similar ecomorphs and community assemblages. This will support the hypothesis that the evolution of Steninae can be understood from the perspectives of reticulate adaptive and iterative convergent radiation.